Meteosat 9 SEVERI Image from the European weather satellite. Taken at 18 GMT Saturday 22 Sept. The equinox was 14:49 GMT Saturday.

Notice the Shadow in this image taken Saturday. It is due North/South,and this happens only on the equinoxes. In other words it must be either late September or late March. You can actually tell it is late September instead of March, by looking at the incredible amount of sea ice around Antarctica. It is late winter there, and Antarctica nearly doubles in size (if you count the ice) during the winter.

The reason the clouds seem blue in this image is due to the different wavelengths of light sensed by the SEVERI sensor on the Meteosat. There are enough channels for an ALMOST true colour image. The blue tinge in the very high clouds is explained well by CIMMS here.

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About Dan

Dan Satterfield has worked as an on air meteorologist for 32 years in Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama. Forecasting weather is Dan's job, but all of Earth Science is his passion. This journal is where Dan writes about things he has too little time for on air. Dan blogs about peer-reviewed Earth science for Junior High level audiences and up.MORE ABOUT DAN >>

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